


Five lies Sha're told

by smilebackwards



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: 5 Things, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-29
Updated: 2011-09-29
Packaged: 2017-11-04 02:48:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/388843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilebackwards/pseuds/smilebackwards
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sha're swipes the evidence away with her sandal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five lies Sha're told

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://sg-fignewton.livejournal.com/profile)[**sg_fignewton**](http://sg-fignewton.livejournal.com/) at the [Fall Fandom Free-For All](http://oxoniensis.livejournal.com/489753.html). Based on prompt[ 132.2](http://sg1-five-things.livejournal.com/298643.html) at [](http://sg1-five-things.livejournal.com/profile)[**sg1_five_things**](http://sg1-five-things.livejournal.com/).

i.

Sha're loves stories, but they are difficult to hold on to. There is a storyteller in the city who keeps thousands of tales locked up inside his head, spinning them out for the people of Abydos to gasp over during festivals. Sha're's favorite is about a princess who travelled to far away stars. She had a magic dragon for a companion and eyes like jewels.

The festival was over weeks ago and now Sha're strains to remember. The dragon had scales of silver, a tongue of fire. She pieces the story together in the sand, traces _brave princess, distant moons._

"Is that writing, Sha're?" her father asks, his voice hot and tumultuous, like a sandstorm. He steps closer to get a better view.

Sha're swipes the evidence away with her sandal. "Just pictures, Papa," she says.

 

ii.

The third day of Thout is a holy day, reserved for prayer to Ra. At the turn of the month, the girls in the city race through the market choosing colored thread and dyed wool to weave into prayer mats and work at their looms til dusk and daybreak.

Sha're used to prepare weeks in advance. Her mats were works of art, shot through with gold thread like the rays of the sun. She would kneel and press her forehead against the sand to feel the warmth of the sun against the back of her neck.

That was before she found the abandoned temple, its pictures and words painting a story of Ra quite unlike the one told in the city. She wonders now.

In her sixteenth year, Sha're forgoes a prayer mat. She removes her outer cloak, sun-bleached and dusty, and lays in on the sand instead. Bahiti stares at it as she lays her mat, all shades of yellow and blue, alongside it. "You did not make a prayer mat this year?" she says questioningly.

"I do not think it so important as I once did," Sha're says.

"But Ra is the one true god," Bahiti says. She looks confused and on her way to frightened. "He brings the light and the warmth. We must pay him homage."

Sha're turns her face away. "Of course," she says, and bows to the sun.

 

iii.

Sha're has been betrothed to Jahi since before the death of her mother. When she is wed to Daniel, Sha're glimpses Jahi's back as he walks away, his steps calm and measured, steady, as he is always steady in all things.

In the week after Abydos is liberated, she brings him a woven basket filled with soft leavened bread, shaped into perfect circles by her own hands, as a peace gift, a contrition. Jahi lets his hand brush hers one last time as he takes the basket with a shallow bow of gratitude. His disappointment is obvious in his eyes.

Sha're is a new wife, but in this moment she cannot care for impropriety. She rests her hand against Jahi's cheek.

"Perhaps it is for the best," Sha're tells him. "We were ill-suited, you and I."

 

iv.

Daniel takes to grinding wheat into flour with an enthusiasm that Skaara and the rest of the boys continue to laugh at. The metal of their Earth-made guns glints in the sunlight. "That is women's work! Come with us to guard the Chappa'ai," they cajole, but Daniel waves them away good-naturedly.

The flour he grinds is soft and smooth. It is the next steps that elude him.

He looks at Sha're with wide eyes. "Can you...?" Daniel says.

"No. That is a husband's work," Sha're says, her eyes twinkling. She adds water, a pinch of salt, and covers his hands with her own to knead the dough and shape it into circles.

 

v.

Apophis speaks to her sometimes, not as Amaunet, but as herself. He is not kind.

"No one is coming for you," Apophis says, eyes cold and glowing.

"Yes," Sha're says softly, "I know." She waits for his sly, triumphant grin and the moment he will turn away, sure that she is broken, bent to his will and that of Amaunet.

It's a lie that's become easier to tell with each passing season, but it remains a lie. Sha're knows Daniel and her father, all of her people, are looking for her. She won't lose faith.

 


End file.
